English

"I have been given the support and guidance on this course that I wouldn’t have got anywhere else. The English teaching staff are brilliant and give so much to their students, and the university itself is a hub for those who want to learn and grow."Lydia Johnson – English student

The English subject group at Newman offers single and combined honours courses in English and Creative Writing.

Our courses include the study of literature, language, film, and creative writing. In literature, you will extend your reading and appreciation of literature. You will engage with a range of works of literature including Shakespeare's plays, Victorian novels, poetry, short stories, books for children and contemporary works from a range of cultural perspectives. You will engage with diverse literary theories and fascinating approaches to texts, key to the study of literature. In language, you will analyse the ways in which meanings are conveyed in a range of spoken and written texts. Language modules encompass topics as diverse as the features of conversation, language and gender, language and learning, the language of humour, and the language of advertising. In film studies, the focus will be on cinematic language, including the study of Hollywood classics, and contemporary films such as Bladerunner and Pulp Fiction. In the creative writing modules, a range of narrative and poetic techniques will be explored. You will also have the opportunity to work on script and on some non-fictional narrative forms such as autobiography, travel writing and journalism.

English and Creative Writing are taught by an enthusiastic and experienced team with expertise and research interests in the fields of linguistics, literature (modern and contemporary, especially postcolonial literatures) and film studies. The friendliness and approachability of the staff and the quality of the feedback and support they offer are frequently highlighted in student evaluations. English at Newman is a thriving research area, see our research group page for more information.